The Hollow Tree Snowed In Book by Albert Bigelow Paine

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Title: The Hollow Tree Snowed-In
Being a continuation of stories about the Hollow Tree and
Deep Woods people

Author: Albert Bigelow Paine

Illustrator: J. M. Conde

Release Date: October 4, 2010 [EBook #33948]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOLLOW TREE SNOWED-IN ***

Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from
scanned images of public domain material from the Internet
Archive.

Book Cover

THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS PEOPLE

THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS PEOPLE

Mr. Crow, Mr. Turtle, Mr. 'Coon, Mr. 'Possum, Mr. Robin, Mr. Squirrel,

Mr. Dog, Mr. Rabbit

THEN MR. DOG SAID: "I KNOW ALL ABOUT MENAGERIES, FOR I

HAVE BEEN TO ONE"

THE HOLLOW TREE

SNOWED-IN BOOK

BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE STORIES ABOUT

THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS PEOPLE

BY

ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE

AUTHOR OF

"THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS BOOK"

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY

J. M. CONDÉ

NEW YORK AND LONDON

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS

MCMX

Books by

ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE

The Hollow Tree Snowed-In Book. Crown 8vo
$1.50

The Ship-Dwellers. Illustrated. 8vo
1.50

The Tent-Dwellers. Illustrated. Post 8vo
1.50

The Hollow Tree and Deep Woods Book. Illustrated. Post 8vo 1.50
From Van-Dweller to Commuter. Ill'd. Post 8vo
1.50

Life of Thomas Nast. Ill'd. 8vo net
5.00

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, N. Y.

Copyright, 1910, by Harper & Brothers

TO ALL DWELLERS IN

THE BIG DEEP WOODS OF DREAM

MAP OF THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS

COUNTRY

EXPLANATION OF MAP

The top of the map is South. This is always so with the Hollow Tree People. The cross on the shelf below the edge of
the world (where the ladder is) is where Mr. Dog landed, and the ladder is the one brought by Mr. Man for him to
climb back on. The tree that Mr. Man cut down shows too. The spot on the edge of the world is where the Hollow
Tree People sometimes sit and hang their feet over, and talk. A good many paths show, but not all by a good deal. The
bridge and plank near Mr. Turtle's house lead to the Wide Grass Lands and Big West Hills. The spots along the Foot
Race show where Grandpaw Hare stopped, and the one across the fence shows where Mr. Turtle landed. Most of the
other things tell what they are, and all the things are a good deal farther apart than they look. Of course there was not
room on the map for everything.

TO FRIENDS OLD AND NEW

I wonder if you have ever heard a story which begins like this: "Once upon a time, in the far depths of the Big Deep
Woods, there was a Big Hollow Tree with three hollow branches. In one of these there lived a 'Coon, in another a
'Possum, and in the third a Big Black Crow."

That was the way the first story began in a book which told about the Hollow Tree People and their friends of the Big
Deep Woods who used to visit them, and how they all used to sit around the table, or by the fire, in the parlor-room
down-stairs, where they kept most of their things, and ate and talked and had good times together, just like folk.[1]

And the stories were told to the Little Lady by the Story Teller, and there were pictures made for them by the Artist,
and it was all a long time ago—so long ago that the Little Lady has grown to be almost a big lady now, able to read
stories for herself, and to write them, too, sometimes.

But the Story Teller and the Artist did not grow any older. The years do not make any difference to them. Like the
Hollow Tree People they remain always the same, for though to see them you might think by their faces and the silver
glint in their hair that they are older, it would not be so, because these things are only a kind of enchantment, made to
deceive, when all the time they are really with the Hollow Tree People in the Big Deep Woods, where years and
enchantments do not count. It was only Mr. Dog, because he lived too much with Mr. Man, who grew old and went
away to that Far Land of Evening which lies beyond the sunset, taking so many of the Hollow Tree stories with him. We
thought these stories were lost for good when Mr. Dog left us, but that was not true, for there came another Mr. Dog—
a nephew of our old friend—and he grew up brave and handsome, and learned the ways of the Hollow Tree People,
and their stories, and all the old tales which the first Mr. Dog did not tell.

And now, too, there is another Little Lady—almost exactly like the first Little Lady—and it may be that it is this Little
Lady, after all, who keeps the Artist and the Story Teller young, for when she thought they might be growing older, and
forgetting, she went with them away from the House of Many Windows, in the city, to the House of Low Ceilings and
Wide Fireplaces—a queer old house like Mr. Rabbit's—built within the very borders of the Big Deep Woods, where
they could be always close to Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum and the Old Black Crow, and all the others, and so learn all
the new tales of the Hollow Tree.

CONTENTS

To Friends Old and New
The First Snowed-In Story
Mr. Dog at the Circus
The Second Snowed-In Story
The Widow Crow's Boarding-House
The Finding of the Hollow Tree
The Third Snowed-In Story
The Fourth Snowed-In Story
The "Snowed-In" Literary Club
The "Snowed-In" Literary Club—Part II

[Pg 7]

[Pg 8]

[Pg 9]

The Discontented Fox
Mr. 'Possum's Great Story
The Bark of Old Hungry-Wolf
An Early Spring Call on Mr. Bear
Mr. Crow's Garden
When Jack Rabbit Was a Little Boy
A Hollow Tree Picnic

ILLUSTRATIONS

THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS PEOPLE
MAP OF THE HOLLOW TREE AND DEEP WOODS COUNTRY
GATHERING NICE PIECES OF WOOD
THE PANTRY IN THE HOLLOW TREE
"SLIPPED IN BEHIND HIM WHEN HE WENT INTO THE TENT"
"HE LOOKED SMILING AND GOOD-NATURED, AND I WENT OVER TO ASK HIM SOME
QUESTIONS"
"GAVE ME AN EXTRA BIG SWING AND CRACK"
ALL AT ONCE HE HEARD A FIERCE BARK CLOSE BEHIND HIM
THEN I SUDDENLY FELT LIKE A SHOOTING-STAR
"THEN MR. DOG SAID, 'TELL ME ANOTHER'"
"AND DID ROLL OFF THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, SURE ENOUGH"
"I SET OUT FOR HOME WITHOUT WAITING TO SAY GOOD-BYE"
CAME CLATTERING DOWN RIGHT IN FRONT OF MR. DOG
SO THEN MR. DOG TRIED TO GET MR. 'POSSUM ON HIS SHOULDER
HE WAS AN OLD BACHELOR AND LIKED TO HAVE HIS OWN WAY
THEY SAW MR. CROW OUT IN THE YARD CUTTING WOOD FOR HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW
HAD TO STAY AT HOME AND PEEL POTATOES
LISTENED NOW AND THEN AT WIDOW CROW'S DOOR TO BE SURE SHE WAS ASLEEP
MR. 'POSSUM SAID HE'D JUST GET ON AND HOLD THE THINGS
MR. 'POSSUM AND MR. 'COON TRIED TO PUT UP THE STOVE
MR. FOX SAID HE DIDN'T HAVE MUCH TO DO FOR A FEW MINUTES AND HE'D ACT AS
JUDGE
SAILING ALONG, JUST TOUCHING THE HIGHEST POINTS
AWAY WENT MR. TORTOISE, CLEAR OVER THE TOP RAIL
SET OUT FOR HOME BY A BACK WAY
TRIED TO SPLICE HIS PROPERTY BACK IN PLACE

GRANDFATHER WOULD LIGHT HIS PIPE AND THINK IT OVER
SET UP HIS EARS AND WENT BY, LICKETY-SPLIT
"'GLAD TO SEE YOU,' SAID KING LION; 'I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT HAVING A NICE
RABBIT FOR BREAKFAST"
GOT AROUND THE TABLE AND BEGAN TO WORK
MR. 'POSSUM WANTED TO KNOW WHAT MR. RABBIT MEANT BY SPINNING THEIR TAILS
MR. DOG SAID HE HAD MADE A FEW SKETCHES
MR. 'POSSUM SAID IT MIGHT BE A GOOD ENOUGH STORY, BUT IT COULDN'T BE TRUE
SO THEN MR. RABBIT SAID THEY MUST CHOOSE WHO WOULD BE "IT"
MR. 'POSSUM HAD TO PUT ON THE HANDKERCHIEF AND DO MORE EXERCISING THAN ANY
OF THEM
WOULD FIND IT ON THE MANTEL-SHELF OR PERHAPS ON MR. CROW'S BALD HEAD
MR. 'POSSUM SAID HE HADN'T MEANT ANYTHING AT ALL BY WHAT HE HAD SAID ABOUT
THE STORY
AND SO THIS CAT GREW RICH AND FAT

[Pg 10]

[Pg 11]

[Pg 12]

HIS CLERKS
A SOLEMN LOOK WAS IN HIS FACE
QUOTH HE; "MY PRIDE IS SATISFIED; THIS KINGDOM BUSINESS DOES NOT PAY"
AUNT MELISSY HAD ARRANGED A BUNDLE FOR UNCLE SILAS, AND SHE HAD FIXED UP THE
HIRED MAN TOO
DIDN'T LOOK AS IF SHE BELONGED TO THE REST OF OUR CROWD
THE BALLOON WENT OVER THE WIDE BLUE WATER JUST AFTER IT GOT OUR FAMILY
MR. TURTLE SAID THAT WHAT MR. 'POSSUM HAD TOLD THEM WAS TRUE
ONE DAY MR. CROW FOUND HE WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL OF EVERYTHING
THEN MR. COON SLAMMED HIS DOOR
MR. 'POSSUM SAID NOT TO MOVE, THAT HE WOULD GO AFTER A PIECE OF WOOD
HE WOULD SMOKE IN THE SUN WHEN THE MORNINGS WERE FAIR
WITH A LOOK AND A SIGH THEY WOULD STAND AND BEHOLD
THE TASTIEST PASTRY THAT EVER WAS KNOWN
THEN TO STIR AND TO BAKE HE BEGAN RIGHT AWAY
THE GREEDY OLD RAVEN, BUT GREEDY NO MORE
LOOKED STRAIGHT AT MR. 'POSSUM AND SAID, "WHAT WAS THAT YOU WERE CHEWING
JUST NOW?"
THEY WENT ALONG, SAYING WHAT A NICE MAN THEY THOUGHT MR. BEAR WAS
MR. BEAR MUST HAVE BEEN VERY TIRED AND GONE TO SLEEP RIGHT WHERE HE WAS
MR. 'COON SCRATCHED HIS BACK AGAINST A LITTLE BUSH
MR. RABBIT THANKED HIM FROM ACROSS THE RIVER
ONE SAID IT WAS ONE WAY AND THE OTHER THE OTHER WAY
MR. CROW DECIDED TO THIN OUT A FEW OF JACK RABBIT'S THINGS
MR. CROW WAS ALMOST AFRAID TO BRING ON THE SALAD
JACK RABBIT CAPERED AND LAUGHED ALL THE WAY HOME
TOOK HER PARASOL AND HER RETICULE AND A CAN OF BERRIES, AND STARTED
AND HE MADE SOME STRIPES, TOO—MOSTLY ON TOP OF THE STOVE
LITTLE JACK KNEW PERFECTLY WELL THAT SHE WASN'T AT ALL PLEASED
PROMISED NEVER TO DISOBEY HIS MOTHER AGAIN
AND HE TASTED OF THAT A LITTLE, TOO
MR. 'POSSUM LEANED HIS BACK AGAINST A TREE AND READ HIMSELF TO SLEEP
SO MR. 'POSSUM PROMISED, AND MR. 'COON UNTIED HIM
"AND WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY SAW?"

THE FIRST SNOWED-IN STORY

[Pg 13]

[Pg 14]

[Pg 15]

[Pg 16]

GATHERING NICE PIECES OF WOOD

GATHERING NICE PIECES OF WOOD

THE FIRST SNOWED-IN STORY

IN WHICH THE READER LEARNS TO KNOW THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE
AND THEIR FRIENDS, AND THE LITTLE LADY, AND THE STORY TELLER

Now this is the beginning of the Hollow Tree stories which the Story Teller told the Little Lady in the queer old house
which stands in the very borders of the Big Deep Woods itself. They were told in the Room of the Lowest Ceiling and
the Widest Fire—a ceiling so low that when the Story Teller stands upright it brushes his hair as he walks, and a fire so
deep that pieces of large trees do not need to be split but can be put on whole. In the old days, several great-
grandfathers back, as the Hollow Tree People might say, these heavy sticks were drawn in by a horse that came right
through the door and dragged the wood to the wide stone hearth.

It is at the end of New-Year's Day, and the Little Lady has been enjoying her holidays, for Santa Claus found his way
down the big stone chimney and left a number of things she wanted. Now, when the night is coming down outside, and
when inside there is a heap of blazing logs and a rocking-chair, it is time for the Story Teller. The Story Teller generally
smokes and looks into the fire when he tells a Hollow Tree story, because the Hollow Tree People always smoke and
look into the fire when they tell their stories, and the Little Lady likes everything to be "just the same," and the stories
must be always told just the same, too. If they are not, she stops the Story Teller and sets him right. So while the Little
Woman passes to and fro, putting away the tea-things, the Story Teller lights his pipe, and rocks, and looks into the fire,
and holds the Little Lady close, and begins the Tales of the Hollow Tree.

"Once upon a time," he begins—

"Once upon a time," murmurs the Little Lady, settling herself.

"Yes, once upon a time, in the old days of the Hollow Tree, when Mr. Dog had become friends with the 'Coon and the
'Possum and the Old Black Crow who lived in the three hollow branches of the Big Hollow Tree, and used to meet
together in their parlor-room down-stairs and invite all their friends, and have good times together, just like folk—"

"But they live there now, don't they?" interrupts the Little Lady, suddenly sitting up, "and still have their friends, just the
same?"

"Oh yes, of course, but this was one of the old times, you know."

The Little Lady settles back, satisfied.

"Go on telling, now," she says.

"Well, then, this was one of the times when all the Deep Woods People had been invited to the Hollow Tree for
Christmas Day, and were snowed in. Of course they didn't expect to be snowed in. Nobody ever expects to be
snowed in till it happens, and then it's too late."

"Was that the Christmas that Mr. Dog played Santa Claus and brought all the presents, and Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Robin
and Mr. Turtle and Jack Rabbit came over, and they all sat around the fire and ate things and told nice stories? You
said you would tell about that, and you never did."

"I am going to tell it now, as soon as a Little Lady gets real still," says the Story Teller. So then the Little Lady is real
still, and he tells the first snowed-in story, which is called:

[Pg 17]

[Pg 18]

[Pg 19]

[Pg 20]

[Pg 21]

MR. DOG AT THE CIRCUS

MR. DOG AT THE CIRCUS

THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE LEARN SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT

ABOUT SHOWS

THE PANTRY IN THE HOLLOW TREE

THE PANTRY IN THE HOLLOW TREE

That was a great Christmas in the Hollow Tree. The 'Coon and the 'Possum and the Old Black Crow had been getting
ready for it for a long time, and brought in ever so many nice things to eat, which Mr. Crow had cooked for them, for
Mr. Crow is the best cook of anybody in the Big Deep Woods. Then Mr. Dog had brought a lot of good things, too,
which he had borrowed from Mr. Man's house, so they had the finest Christmas dinner that you can think of, and plenty
for the next day when it would be even better, because chicken and turkey and dressing and such things are always
better the next day, and even the third day, with gravy, than they are when they are first cooked.

Then, when they were all through and were standing around, smoking their new pipes and looking at each other's new
neckties and other Christmas things, Mr. Crow said that he and Mr. Squirrel would clear off the table if the others
would get in some wood and stir up the fire and set the room to rights, so they could gather round and be comfortable
by-and-by; and then, he said, it might snow as much as it liked as long as they had plenty of wood and things to eat
inside.

So then they all skurried around getting on their things to go out after wood—all except Mr. Crow and Mr. Squirrel,
who set about clearing off the table and doing up the dishes. And pretty soon Mr. Dog and Mr. Coon and the rest were
hopping about where the snow was falling so soft and silent among the big, leafless trees, gathering nice pieces of wood
and brushing the snow off of them and piling them into the first down-stairs of the Hollow Tree, which the 'Coon and
'Possum and Old Black Crow use for their wood-house and general store-room. It was great fun, and they didn't feel
the least bit cold after their warm dinner and with all that brisk exercise.

Mr. Robin didn't help carry the wood in. He was hardly strong enough for that, but he hopped about and looked for
good pieces, and when he found one he would call to Mr. 'Coon or Mr. 'Possum, or maybe to one of the others, to
throw it on his shoulder and carry it in, and then he would tell whoever it happened to be how strong he was and how
fine he looked with that great chunk on his shoulder, and would say that he didn't suppose there was another 'Coon, or
'Possum, or Turtle, or Rabbit, or Dog that could begin to stand up straight under such a chunk as that anywhere outside
of a menagerie. Mr. Robin likes to say pleasant things to his friends, and is always popular. And each one tried to carry
the biggest load of wood to show how strong he was, and pretty soon they had the lower room of the Hollow Tree
piled up high with the finest chunks and kindling pieces to be found anywhere. Then they all hurried up-stairs, stamping
the snow off their feet, and gathered around the nice warm fire in the big parlor which was just below the three big
hollow branches where the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow had their rooms.

Mr. Crow and Mr. Squirrel were through with the table by this time, and all hands lit their pipes, and looked into the

[Pg 22]

[Pg 23]

[Pg 24]

[Pg 25]

[Pg 26]

"SLIPPED IN BEHIND HIM WHEN HE WENT

INTO THE TENT"

fire, and smoked, and rested, and thought a little before they began talking—thinking, of course, of what a good time
they were having, and how comfortable and nice it was to be inside and warm when such a big snow was falling
outside.

Mr. 'Possum was the first one to say anything. He said he had been thinking of what Mr. Robin had said about them
being outside of a menagerie, and that, come to think about it, he believed he didn't know what a menagerie was, unless
it was a new name for a big dinner, as that was the only thing he could think of now that they were outside of, and he
said if that was so, and if he could get outside of two menageries, he thought he could carry in a bigger chunk than any
two chunks there were down-stairs.

Then all the others laughed a good deal, and Mr. 'Coon said he had thought that perhaps a menagerie was something to
wear that would make anybody who had it on very strong, and able to stand up under a big load, and to eat as much as
Mr. 'Possum could, or even more.

But Mr. Robin said that it didn't mean either of those things. He said he didn't really know what it did mean himself, but
that it must be some kind of a place that had a great many large creatures in it, for he had heard his grandmother quite
often call his grandfather the biggest goose outside of a menagerie, though, being very young then, Mr. Robin couldn't
remember just what she had meant by it.

Mr. Rabbit said he thought that the word "menagerie" sounded like some kind of a picnic, with swings and nice lively
games, and Mr. Crow said that once when he was flying he passed over a place where there was a big sign that said
Menagerie on it, and that there were some tents and a crowd of people and a great noise, but that he hadn't seen
anything that he could carry off without being noticed, so he didn't stop.

Mr. Squirrel thought that from what Mr. Crow said it must be a place where there would be a lot of fine things to see,
and Mr. Turtle said that he was a good deal over three hundred years old and had often heard of a menagerie, but that
he had never seen one. He said he had always supposed that it was a nice pond of clear water, with a lot of happy
turtles and fish and wild geese and duck and such things in it, and maybe some animals around it, all living happily
together, and taken care of by Mr. Man, who brought them a great many good things to eat. He had always thought he
would like to live in a menagerie, he said, but that nobody had ever invited him, and he had never happened to come
across one in his travels.

Mr. Dog hadn't been saying anything all this time, but he knocked the ashes out of his pipe now, and filled it up fresh
and lit it, and cleared his throat, and began to talk. It made him smile, he said, to hear the different ways people thought
of a thing they had never seen. He said that Mr. Turtle was the only one who came anywhere near to what a menagerie
really was, though of course Mr. Crow had seen one on the outside. Then Mr. Dog said:

"I know all about menageries, on the outside and the inside
too, for I have been to one. I went once with Mr. Man,
though I wasn't really invited to go. In fact, Mr. Man
invited me to stay at home, and tried to slip off from me;
but I watched which way he went, and took long roundin's
on him, and slipped in behind him when he went into the
tent. He didn't know for a while that I was there, and I
wasn't there so very long. But it was plenty long enough—a
good deal longer than I'd ever stay again, unless I was tied.

"I never saw so many wild, fierce-looking creatures in my
life as there were in that menagerie, and they were just as
wild and fierce as they looked. They had a lot of cages full
of them and they had some outside of cages, though I don't
know why they should leave any of those dangerous
animals around where they could damage folks that
happened to come in reach, as I did. Those animals outside
didn't look as wild and fierce as those in the cages, but they
were.

"I kept in the crowd, close behind Mr. Man at first, and
nobody knew I was there, but by-and-by he climbed up
into a seat to watch some people all dressed up in fancy
clothes ride around a ring on horses, which I didn't care
much about, so I slipped away, and went over to where
there were some things that I wanted to take my time to
see quietly."

"There was an animal about my size and style tied over in
one corner of the tent, behind a rope, with a sign in front of
him which said, 'The Only Tame Hyena in the World.' He
looked smiling and good-natured, and I went over to ask him some questions.

[Pg 27]

[Pg 28]

[Pg 29]

[Pg 30]

[Pg 31]

HE LOOKED SMILING AND GOOD-NATURED, AND I WENT OVER

TO ASK HIM SOME QUESTIONS

"But that sign wasn't true. He
wasn't the least bit tame, and I'm
sure now that he wasn't smiling.
He grabbed me before I had a
chance to say a word, and when
I jerked loose, which I did right
away, for I didn't want to stir up
any fuss there, I left quite a piece
of my ear with the tame hyena,
and tripped backward over the
rope and rolled right in front of a
creature called an elephant, about
as big as a house and not as
useful.

"I suppose they thought he was
tame, too, but he must have been
tamed by the same man, for he
grabbed me with a kind of a tail
that grew on the end of his nose
—a thing a good deal like Mr.
'Possum's tail, only about a
million times as big—and I could
hear my ribs crack as he waved
me up and down.

"Of course, as I say, I didn't want
to stir up any fuss, but I couldn't

keep still under such treatment as that, and I called right out to Mr. Man, where he sat looking at the fancy people
riding, and told him that I had had enough of the show, and if he wanted to take any of me home, he ought not to wait
very long, but come over that way and see if he couldn't get the tame elephant to practise that performance on the
hyena or the next dog, because I had had plenty, and was willing to go home just as I was, all in one piece, even if not
very lively.

"Mr. Man came, too, and so did a lot of the others. They seemed to think that I was more to look at than those riding
people; and some of them laughed, though what there was happening that was funny I have never been able to guess to
this day. I kept right on telling Mr. Man what I wanted him to do, and mebbe I made a good deal of noise about it, for
it seemed to stir up those other animals. There was a cage full of lions that started the most awful roaring you can think
of, and a cage of crazy-looking things they called monkeys that screeched and howled and swung back and forth in
rings and held on to the bars, and all the other things joined in, until I couldn't tell whether I was still saying anything or
not. I suppose they were all jealous of the elephant because of the fun he was having, and howling to be let out so they
could get hold of me too.

"Well, you never heard of such a time. It nearly broke up the show. Everybody ran over to look, and even the riding
people stopped their horses to enjoy it, too. If it only hadn't been so dangerous and unpleasant I should have been
proud of the way they came to see me perform.

"But Mr. Man didn't seem to like it much. I heard him tell somebody, as loud as he could, that I would be killed, and
that I was the best dog he ever had, and that if I was killed he'd sue the show."

"That made me proud, too, but I wished he wouldn't wait to sue the show, but would do something right away, and just
then a man with a fancy dress on and a stick with a sharp iron hook on it came running up and said something I didn't
understand and hit the elephant with the hook end of the stick, and he gave me an extra big swing and crack and flung
me half-way across the tent, where I landed on a bunch of hay right in front of a long-necked thing called a camel—
another terrible tame creature, I suppose—who had me about half eaten up with his old long under lip, before Mr. Man
could get over there.

"When Mr. Man did get hold of me, he said that I'd better take what was left of me home, for they were going to feed
the animals pretty soon, and that I would likely get mixed up with the bill of fare.

"After that he took me to the entrance and pushed me outside, and I heard all those fierce creatures in the cages growl
and roar louder than ever, as if they had expected to sample me and were sorry to see me go.

"That's what a menagerie is—it's a place where they have all the kinds of animals and things in the world, for show, and
a good many birds, and maybe turtles, too, but they don't have any fine clear pond. They have just a big tent, like the
one Mr. Crow saw, and a lot of cages inside. They keep most of the animals in cages, and they ought to keep them all
there, and I don't think they feed them very much, nor the best things, or they wouldn't look so fierce and hungry.

"They just keep them for Mr. Man and his friends to look at and talk about, and if Mr. Turtle will take my advice he will

[Pg 32]

[Pg 33]

[Pg 34]

[Pg 35]

"GAVE ME AN EXTRA SWING AND CRACK"

"GAVE ME AN EXTRA SWING AND CRACK"

keep out of a menagerie and live
in the Wide Blue Water where he
was born. I wouldn't have gone
there again unless I had been tied
and dragged there, or unless they
had put those tame animals into
cages with the others. No doubt
there are some very fine, strong
animals in a menagerie, but they
wouldn't be there if they could
help it, and if anybody ever
invites any of you to join a
menagerie, take my advice and
don't do it."

Then Mr. Dog knocked the
ashes out of his pipe again, and
all the other Deep Woods People
knocked the ashes out of their
pipes, too, and filled them up
fresh, and one said one thing, and
one said another about being in a
menagerie or out of it, and every
one thought it would be a terrible
thing to be shut up in a cage,
except Mr. 'Possum, who said he
wouldn't mind it if they would let
him sleep enough and give him all he could eat, but that a cage without those things would be a lonesome place.

Then Mr. 'Coon said that a little adventure had happened to him once which he had never mentioned before, because
he had never known just what to make of it; but he knew now, he said, that he had come very near getting into a
menagerie, and he would tell them just what happened.

The Story Teller looked down at the quiet figure in his lap. The Little Lady's head was nestled close to his shoulder, and
her eyes were straining very hard to keep open.

"I think we will save Mr. 'Coon's story till another night," he said.

THE SECOND SNOWED-IN STORY

THE SECOND SNOWED-IN STORY

MR. 'COON TELLS HOW HE CAME NEAR BEING A PART OF A MENAGERIE,

AND HOW HE ONCE TOLD A STORY TO MR. DOG

"You can tell about Mr. 'Coon, now—the story you didn't tell last night, you know," and the Little Lady wriggles herself
into a comfortable corner just below the Story Teller's smoke, and looks deep into a great cavern of glowing embers
between the big old andirons, where, in her fancy, she can picture the Hollow Tree people and their friends.

"Why, yes, let me see—" says the Story Teller.

"Mr. Dog had just told about being at the menagerie, you know, and Mr. 'Coon was just going to tell how he came very
near getting into a menagerie himself."

"Oh yes, of course—well, then, all the Hollow Tree people, the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow, and their
friends who were visiting them—Mr. Dog and Mr. Robin and Jack Rabbit and Mr. Turtle and Mr. Squirrel—knocked
the ashes out of their pipes and filled them up fresh—"

"No, they had just done that."

"That's so, I forgot. Well, anyway, as soon as they got to smoking and settled back around the fire again Mr. 'Coon
told them his story, and I guess we'll call it

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ALL AT ONCE HE HEARD A FIERCE BARK CLOSE BEHIND HIM

ALL AT ONCE HE HEARD A FIERCE BARK CLOSE BEHIND

HIM

"MR. 'COON'S EARLY ADVENTURE"

Mr. 'Coon said he was quite young
when it happened, and was taking a
pleasant walk one evening, to think
over things a little, and perhaps to pick
out a handy tree where Mr. Man's
chickens roosted, when all at once he
heard a fierce bark close behind him,
and he barely had time to get up a tree
himself when a strange and very noisy
Mr. Dog was leaping about at the foot
of the tree, making a great fuss, and
calling every moment for Mr. Man to
hurry, for he had a young 'coon treed.

"Of course I laid pretty low when I
heard that," Mr. 'Coon said, "for I
knew that Mr. Man would most likely
have a gun, so I got into a bunch of
leaves and brush that must have been
some kind of an old nest and
scrooched down so that none of me
would show.

"Then by-and-by I heard some big
creature come running through the
brush, and I peeked over a little, and
there, sure enough, was Mr. Man with
a long gun, and I noticed that he wore
a thing on his head—a sort of hat, I
suppose—made of what looked to be
the skin of some relative of mine.

"Of course that made me mad. I hadn't cared so much until I saw that; but I said right then to myself that any one who
would do such a thing as that never could be a friend of mine, no matter how much he tried. So I scrooched down and
laid low in that old nest, and didn't move or let on in any way that I was there.

"Then I heard Mr. Man walking around the tree and talking to his dog and telling him that there wasn't anything up in
that tree at all, and that Mr. Dog had just been fooling him. I could tell by his voice that he was getting mad at Mr. Dog,
and I hoped that he'd get mad enough pretty soon to take a stick to him for chasing me up a tree like that, and then
calling for Mr. Man to come and see me when there wasn't really anything to look at.

"But Mr. Dog kept galloping around the tree and barking out, over and over, that I was there; that he had seen me, and
that he knew that I was hiding up there somewhere; and pretty soon I heard Mr. Man going away, and I peeked over
again.

"Sure enough, he was going, but Mr. Dog was staying right there, sitting under the tree and looking up and making a
good deal more noise than there was any need of to let me know he hadn't gone. I didn't see why he stayed there. I
wished he'd go away and tend to his own business.

"Being quite young, I still lived with my folks over near the Wide Grass Lands, and I wanted to get home for supper. It
was a good way to go, for the tree I had climbed was over close to the edge of the world where the sun and moon rise,
and you all know that's a good way, even from here.

"Well, he didn't go, but just sat there, barking up that tree, and after a long time I heard somebody coming again, and I
peeked over and there was Mr. Man, hurrying back, this time with an axe. I knew, right then, there was going to be
trouble. I knew they were going to cut that tree down, and that I should most likely have quite a fuss with Mr. Dog, and
perhaps go home with a black eye and a scratched nose, and then get whipped again for fighting, after I got there."

Mr. 'Coon stopped and knocked the ashes out of his pipe and filled it up fresh, and all the others knocked the ashes out
of their pipes and filled them up fresh, too. Then Mr. 'Possum poked up the fire and told Mr. Turtle to bring a stick of
wood from down-stairs, and when it was blazing up high and bright again they all stepped over to the window a minute,
to see how hard it was snowing and banking up outside, then went back to their chairs around the fire, and stretched
out their feet and leaned back and smoked, and listened to the rest of Mr. 'Coon's story.

Mr. Coon said he didn't like the sound of that axe when Mr. Man began to cut the tree down.

"Every time he struck the tree I could feel it all through me," he said, "and I knew if he kept that noise up long enough it

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THEN I SUDDENLY FELT LIKE A SHOOTING-STAR

THEN I SUDDENLY FELT LIKE A SHOOTING-

STAR

would give me a nervous headache. I wished the tree would hurry up and drop, so we could have what muss we were
going to, and get it over with. I'd have got out of that old nest and made a jump for another tree if there had been any
near enough, but there wasn't, so I just laid low and gritted my teeth and let him chop.

"Well, by-and-by that tree began to go down. It
seemed to teeter a little at first, this way and that; then
it went very slow in one direction; then it went a little
faster; then it went a good deal faster; then I suddenly
felt like a shooting-star, I came down so fast, and
there was a big crash, and I thought I had turned into
a lot of stars, sure enough, and was shooting in every
direction, and the next I knew I was tied to a tree,
hand and foot and around the middle, and Mr. Man
and Mr. Dog were sitting and looking at me, and
grinning, and talking about what they were going to
do.

"Mr. Man wasn't scolding Mr. Dog any more. He was
telling him what a good thing it was they had caught
me alive, for now they could sell me to a show and get
a great deal more for me than they could for my skin. I
didn't know what a show was, then, or that a show is
a menagerie, but I know now, and I can see just what
they meant.

"Pretty soon Mr. Man told Mr. Dog to stay there and
watch me while he went home after a box to put me
in. He said he didn't think it would be safe to carry me
in his arms, and he was right about that.

"So then Mr. Man walked off, and left Mr. Dog
guarding me, and saying unpleasant things to me now
and then.

"At first I wouldn't answer him; but pretty soon I

happened to think of something pleasant to say:

"'Mr. Dog,' I said, 'I know a good story, if you'd like me to tell it. Mr. Man may be a good while getting that box, and
mebbe you'd like to hear something to pass the time.'

"Mr. Dog said he would. He said that Mr. Man would most likely have to make the box, and he didn't suppose he
knew where the hammer and nails were, and it might be dark before Mr. Man got back.

"I felt a good deal better when I heard Mr. Dog say that, and I told him a story I knew about how Mr. Rabbit lost his
tail, and Mr. Dog laughed and seemed to like it, and said, 'Tell me another.'"

Before Mr. 'Coon could go on with his story, Mr. Rabbit said that of course if that old tale had helped Mr. 'Coon out of
trouble he was very glad, but that it wasn't at all true, and that some time he would tell them himself the true story of
how it happened.

Then they all said that they hoped he would, for they'd always wanted to hear that story told right, and then Mr. 'Coon
went on with his adventure.

Mr. Coon said that when Mr. Dog said, 'Tell me another,' he knew he was in a good-humor, and that he felt better and
better himself. "I thought if Mr. Man didn't come back too soon," he said, "I might get along pretty well with Mr. Dog.

"'I know another story, Mr. Dog,' I said—'the funniest story there is. It would make you laugh until you fell over the
edge of the world, but I can't tell it here.'

"'Why,' he said,—'why can't you tell it here as well as anywhere?'

"'Because it has to be acted,' I said, 'and my hands are tied.'

"'Will you tell it if I untie your hands?' said Mr. Dog.

"'Well,' I said, 'I'll begin it, and you can see how it goes.'

"So Mr. Dog came over and untied my hands, for he said he could tie them again before Mr. Man came back, because
he knew Mr. Man hadn't found that hammer yet.

"'You can't get loose with just your hands untied, can you?' he said.

"'No, of course not, Mr. Dog,' I said, pleasant and polite as could be.

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"THEN MR. DOG SAID, 'TELL ME ANOTHER'"

"THEN MR. DOG SAID, 'TELL ME ANOTHER'"

"'Let's see you try,' said Mr. Dog.

"So I twisted and pulled, and of course I couldn't get
loose.

"'Now tell the story,' said Mr. Dog.

"So I said: 'Once there was a man who had a very
bad pain in his chest, and he took all kinds of
medicine, and it didn't do him any good. And one day
the Old Wise Man of the Woods told him if he would
rub his chest with one hand and pat his head with the
other, it might draw the pain out the top and cure him.
So the man with the pain in his chest tried it, and he
did it this way.'

"Then I showed Mr. Dog just how he did it, and Mr.
Dog thought that was funny, and laughed a good deal.

"'Go on and tell the rest of it,' he said. 'What
happened after that?'

"But I let on as if I'd just remembered something, and
I said, 'Oh, Mr. Dog, I'm so sorry, but I can't tell the
rest of that story here, and it's the funniest part, too. I
know you'd laugh till you rolled over the edge of the
world.'

"'Why can't you tell the rest of that story here as well
as anywhere?' said Mr. Dog, looking anxious.

"'Because it has to be acted with the feet,' I said, 'and my feet are tied.'

"'Will you tell it if I untie your feet?' said Mr. Dog.

"'Well, I'll do the best I can,' I said.

"So Mr. Dog came over and untied my feet. He said he knew that Mr. Man hadn't found the nails or the pieces to make
the box yet, and there would be plenty of time to tie me again before Mr. Man got back.

"'You can't get loose, anyway, with just your hands and feet untied, can you?' he said.

"'No, of course not, Mr. Dog,' I said, more pleasant and polite than ever.

"'Let's see you try,' said Mr. Dog.

"So I squirmed and twisted, but of course with a strong string around my waist and tied behind I couldn't do anything.

"'Now go on with the story,' said Mr. Dog.

"'Well,' I said, 'the pain left his chest, but it went into his back, and he had a most terrible time, until one day the Old
Wise Man of the Woods came along and told him that he thought he ought to know enough by this time to rub his back
where the pain was and pat his head at the same time to draw it out at the top. So then the man with the pain rubbed his
back and patted his head this way,' and I showed Mr. Dog how he did it; and I rubbed a good while about where the
knot was, and made a face to show how the man with the pain looked, and then I said the pain came back into his
chest again instead of being drawn out at the top; and I changed about and rubbed there awhile, and then I went around
to my back again, chasing that pain first one side and the other; and then I said that the Old Wise Man of the Woods
came along one day and told him that he must kick with his feet too if he ever wanted to get rid of that pain, because,
after all, it might have to be kicked out at the bottom; and when I began to kick and dance with both feet and to rub
with my hands at the same time, Mr. Dog gave a great big laugh—the biggest laugh I ever heard anybody give—and fell
right down and rolled over and over, and did roll off the edge of the world, sure enough.

"I heard him go clattering into a lot of brush and blackberry bushes that are down there, and just then I got that back
knot untied, and I stepped over and looked down at Mr. Dog, who had lodged in a brier patch on a shelf about ten feet
below the edge, where Mr. Man would have to get him up with a ladder or a rope.

"'Do you want to hear the rest of the story, Mr. Dog?' I said.

"'I'll story you,' he said, 'when I catch you!'

"'I told you you'd laugh till you fell off the edge of the world,' I said.

"'I'll make you laugh,' he said, 'when I catch you!'

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"AND DID ROLL OFF THE EDGE OF THE WORLD,

SURE ENOUGH"

"I SET OUT FOR HOME WITHOUT WAITING TO SAY

GOOD-BYE"

"Then I saw he was cross about something, and I
set out for home without waiting to say good-bye
to Mr. Man, for I didn't want to waste any more
time, though I missed my supper and got a
scolding besides.

"But I was glad I didn't bring home a black eye
and scratched nose, and I'm more glad than ever
now that Mr. Man didn't get back in time with that
box, or I might be in a menagerie this minute
instead of sitting here smoking and telling stories
and having a good time on Christmas Day."

The Story Teller looks down at the Little Lady.

"I'm glad Mr. 'Coon didn't get into the menagerie,
aren't you?" she says.

"Very glad," says the Story Teller.

"He went lickety-split home, didn't he?"

"He did that!"

"I like them to go lickety-split better than lickety-
cut, don't you?" says the Little Lady. "They seem
to go so much faster."

"Ever so much faster," says the Story Teller.

THE WIDOW CROW'S BOARDING-HOUSE

THE WIDOW CROW'S BOARDING-HOUSE

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